Eugene Flystein is an unusual fly, preferring books and perfecting his inventions to outside pursuits. He and his family have recently moved to Stinkopolis, where the fourth-grader finds himself the target of class bully Cornelius C. Roach giant bug who runs off with Eugene's Top-Secret Robot Notebook. Eugene and his new friend Fred Flea botch an attempt to fend off Cornelius with Eugene's Ultimo 6-9000 invention, delivered via key lime pie, that increases intelligence and strength by a factor of 9,000 d make a supervillain out of the roach, Crazy Cockroach, who builds an army of robots bent on destroying humankind. Knowing what he must do, Eugene eats the pie and transforms himself into Super Fly. With the help of his sidekick, Fantastic Flea, he battles Cornelius and saves the day . . . but for how long? Unapologetically silly, with plenty of gross-out humor and charming illustrations by author Doodler, beginning readers will thrill to the adventures of Super Fly.

K-Gr 2 Eugene Flystein is a nerdy, unathletic fourth-grade fly living at the edge of the town dump in Stinkopolis. In his spare time, Eugene makes strange inventions that children love, like a homework robot, and plays with his younger sister, Elle. He even makes friends with a flea in the flea circus, Fred. But most of all, he stays out of the way of Cornelius Cockroach, a bully and his arch nemesis. That is, until Cornelius is transformed by one of Eugene's inventions, the Ultimo 6-9000, into a supervillainCrazy Cockroach. Soon Stinkopolis is being terrorized and robbed by the cockroach, and Eugene must transform himself into Super Fly to save the dump. The drawings and plot in Super Fly might appeal to older readers, but the writing style is definitely for the younger set, possibly even to be included in easy reader collections. Fans of "Captain Underpants" (Scholastic, 2002) will enjoy the potty humor and simple black-and-white illustrations. The only downside is the very basic sentence structure, which would make read-alouds awkward. VERDICT Recommended for elementary and early chapter book collections. Shalini Miskelly, St. Benedict Catholic School, Seattle, WA